Etymograph

English

merocrine

Merocrine comes from Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňō1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω2krī́nō‘to separate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1982merocrine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English merocrine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1982, Vladimir Evgenʹevich Sokolov, Mammal Skin: “Merocrine cells have several full secretion cycles — the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νωWiktionary, English merocrinekrī́nō‘to separate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1982merocrineWiktionary, English merocrine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1982, Vladimir Evgenʹevich Sokolov, Mammal Skin: “Merocrine cells have several full secretion cycles — the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’

certain, secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, discrete, discreet, riddle, discriminate, discern, criterion, excrement, excretion, endocrine, incriminate, excrete, rime, incrimination, certitude, ridder, recrimination, 43 more

through Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate’

critique, criticize, hypocrite, criterium, 5 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to certain exocrine glands that secrete without major damage to the secretory cells.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “merocrine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κρίνω. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / merocrine

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